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Caitlyn Evans
Personality Caitlyn is a pretty typical Corax--talkative, sometimes sarcastic, curious and with a deep love of shinies, although for her that's quite often tech toys of some sort or other. She's absolutely dedicated to her role as messenger and protector, fanatically loyal to Raven and the idea that information should be free, secrets should be found out, and the Corax have a sacred duty to Raven and Helios to do their jobs. She throws herself into these things partly because she's been hurt and lost people, and partly because of the dreams she's always had, that someday she'll betray someone dear, for the greater good. She hates that this will happen, but being a pragmatist she doesn't try to fight it too much, and instead tries to do as much good as she can now. She comes off as obsessed with knowing everything that's going on right now, with being on the bleeding-edge of news, information, technology, gossip, fashion, whatever. It's a persona that serves her well on her blog, The Skeleton Key, but the seeming avant-garde nature is just her fanatical Corax-ness coming out. She's ascerbic and witty, extremely intelligent, loyal if she likes you but scathing if she doesn't. She rarely outright lies but isn't above messing with the truth a little when need be. Woe be unto anyone who messes with her or those she cares about--she's vindictive, and fond of getting people bigger than her (like Garou) to exact revenge. Sheet Attributes: : Physical: Strength 1, Dexterity 4, Stamina 1 : Social: Charisma 3, Manipulation 4, Appearance 2 : Mental: Perception 3, Intelligence 4, Wits 5 Abilities: : Talents: Dodge 2, Expression 4, Insight 3, Scrounging 4, Subterfuge 3, Vigilance 2 : Skills: Marksmanship 1, Research 5, Technology 1 : Knowledges: Academics 2, Computer 4, Cosmology 2, Culture 3, Enigmas 3, Investigation 1, Law 1, Linguistics 4, Lore 2, Occult 1, Politics 2, Rituals 2 Advantages: : Willpower: 6 : Rage: 1 : Gnosis: 6 : Backgrounds: Allies 2, Contacts 5, Fame 3, Influence 1, Resources 3, Rites 2 Gifts: : Rank 1: Scent of the True Form, Truth of Gaia, Word Beyond : Rank 2: Tongues : Rank 3: Dark Truths Rites: : Rank 0: Breath of Gaia, Greet the Sun : Rank 1: Questing Stone, Talisman Dedication : Rank 2: Sun's Bright Ray Merits: Concentration (2), Computer Aptitude (2), Natural Linguist (2) Flaws: Dark Fate (5), Addiction (Caffeine/Nicotine) (1), Compulsion (Swearing) (1) Freebies Spent: : Attributes: Manipulation: 5, Intelligence: 5, Wits: 5 (Total: 15) : Abilities: :: Talents: Insight: 2, Scrounging: 6, Subterfuge: 4, Vigilance: 2 (Total: 14) (1 dot of Dodge and 1 dot of Subterfuge were free from Raven) :: Skills: Research: 4 (Total: 4) :: Knowledges: Computer: 2, Culture: 2, Enigmas: 2, Investigation: 2, Law: 2, Linguistics: 2, Lore: 4, Occult: 2, Politics: 4, Rituals: 4 (Total: 26) (1 dot of Enigmas free from Raven) : Advantages: Willpower: 3, Fame: 3, Influence: 1, Resources: 3, Rites: 2 (Total: 12) : Merits: +6 : Flaws: -7 Total Spent: 70 Freebies Specialties & Expertise Dexterity: Swift :Caitlyn isn't very strong, and injuries have left her weak, but she's fast. She's a sprinter, she's nimble, and especially in flight she focuses on short, quick bursts--the better to conserve her energy. Manipulation: Glib :Caitlyn is a talker, and a linguist to boot; she knows how to use language to get people to do what she wants. She rarely outright lies, but specializes in finding a way to swiftly come up with an answer for every objection, and her facility with language makes this seem effortless, almost thoughtless, as if the words just kind of tumble off her tongue. Intelligence: Pragmatic :Caitlyn is relentlessly practical. She's good with facts--with finding them, with remembering them, with interpreting them. Theory isn't entirely her forte; her speciality is what is, what's in front of her, what she has to deal with in the real world. Wits: Jumpy :Caitlyn is always on-edge, high-strung, never really entirely resting. Her mind's always moving and she is usually actually physically bouncing. She's got great hand-eye coordination and she reacts quickly in stressful situations, although usually that reaction is to shift to corvid and fly the hell away. Expression: Journalism :Reporting (well, the online blog type) is Caitlyn's bread-and-butter. She's become internationally known for both her breaking stories and her commentary. She's also been sought out for appearances on television news programs, and though she's scaled back on that since relocating to Crystal Springs she might be willing to give the occasional interview. Scrounging: Sifting for the Truth :It's not enough to get the information; Corax have to get accurate information, and Caitlyn's devoted a lot of effort to figuring out what's true and what's false in the rumors and gossip she dredges up. Marksmanship: Pistols :As she's not too strong, Caitlyn's done some practice with guns. Not a ton, though. Research: Electronic Records :Caitlyn's a whiz when it comes to gathering information on the Internet or from computers in general. She's not nearly as likely to be looking in books or newspaper archives as she is to be digging through Internet forums and hacking into databases. She's been doing this since she was 15, and uses her linguistic knowledge and Gifts to do it in databases and forums of all languages as well. Technology: Computer Hardware :Upgrading and improving computers can only help Caitlyn at what she does. Academics: Communications Theory :This is tied into her linguistics studies. Computer: Internet :Caitlyn's been using computers since she was very young, and started in on the Internet as soon as she started using the computers. She's learned to program and such, but her specialty and her love is the Internet, that great social networking platform. It's almost a sacred thing, to her, the free Internet, the idea of democratic and wide-spread access to information--more people knowing things can only be good! Culture: Idioms :Caitlyn spends so much time immersing herself in other languages and in international news that she has figured out the way native speakers talk (not just what textbooks say); to her, this is part and parcel with good communication. Linguistics: Slang :Caitlyn speaks, in addition to English and the Corax tongue, Spanish, French, Japanese, Mandarin, Russian, Arabic, Salish and Latin. She specializes in trying to sound like a native speaker, the better to understand the things she reads on the Internet. Despite her Gift, Tongues, she still wants to learn more languages--communication is a fascinating thing to her. Lore: Corax, Garou, Vampire :Obviously Caitlyn knows about her own people; she's spent enough time around Garou to know some of their ins and outs, and due to her problems with vampires in the past she knows a little bit about them (that there are two "main factions," Camarilla and Sabbat, the name of a couple of clans. Not much, really.) Merits & Flaws Concentration :The easily-distracted nature of Corax also comes with an ability to hyperfocus. Caitlyn has trained herself to use this to her best advantage. Computer Aptitude :Caitlyn's always been good with computers; they're just part of her world, she understands them and loves them as an extension of her natural curiousity and drive to know and communicate. Natural Linguist :Caitlyn has the ability to not just learn other languages but think in them when she learns them (helped, perhaps, by her parents' insistence on making sure she heard foreign languages as a baby), and so she has an easier time dealing with languages than most. Dark Fate :This is detailed in the history, but to sum up: Caitlyn has always had dreams she will betray someone important to her and be hated for it, and yet this betrayal will be utterly neccesary for the greater good. She hates this knowledge, and hates the dreams, but doubts she can do anything about it, and so tries to do all the good she can now. Addiction :Caitlyn is addicted to both caffeine and nicotine. The stimulants help her focus and stay awake, and are hardly a surprising fixture in her life given her upbringing in Seattle. Compulsion :Caitlyn swears. A lot. She can't help it, she edits her blog posts, and she tries to swear in foreign languages when she can. It's not Tourettes--she knows she's doing it, and there's a measure of control, but she'll get really fidgety if she has to keep her language clean for too long. Backgrounds Allies :Caitlyn's spiritual mother is a corvid by the name of Early-Bird-Gets-The-Worm. Early is a Rank 3 Corax who lives on the Tulalip Indian Reservation in Washington along with some other Corax and Kinfolk. Caitlyn also knows Garou in a sept in Oregon, most especially a Glass Walker Ragabash named Jesse Carter who's helped her out on a few occassions. He's fond of the Corax and likes to help out, especially knowing she's as good and accurate at information-gathering as she is. Contacts :Caitlyn's contacts are many, varied, and worldwide. Most of them are people she knows online, though of course she keeps up contact with several other Corax in the interest of passing information about. Sometimes these people are even entirely anonymous. She's specifically made contacts in the local District Attorney's office, the Crystal Springs Police Department, the Mayor's office, and the largest local newspaper. Fame :Caitlyn's blog, The Skeleton Key, is read world-wide. She's had interviews published in several major magazines, once was on the cover of People, helped the FBI take down a child porn ring, has done commentary on MSNBC... she's not a household name quite yet, but anyone who follows news or blogrolls would recognize the name, her blog has a large following, and she'd be vaguely familiar to wide swaths of people--just not to everyone. Influence :With fame of the sort Caitlyn has comes just a little bit of influence, the type that gets larger media outlets to look into a story, the sort that gets law enforcement agencies to pay attention when one comes along with a tip. Politicians, at least local ones, might pay attention if she threatens to expose something, though right now she still mostly has to pass the story on to someone who can make a bigger stink about it than she can. Resources :Most of Caitlyn's resources come from her job at Grey, Incorporated... which is kind of hazily defined, but is a mixture of info-gathering, public relations, corporate espionage, and internet security. Her blog still takes in advertisers, but she'd like to go ad-free if she can convince Nicholas to help her out with the costs. History Excerpt from Newsweek, September 17, 2007 :Though she looks far too young to be an FBI informant, 23-year-old Caitlyn Evans has been at the center of a media storm following her contribution to the downfall of one of the world's most prolific child porn rings. She is best known for her acerbic commentary on international news, Internet culture, and linguistics at her blog, "The Skeleton Key." In an exclusive interview with Newsweek, she reveals what drove a linguist and self-confessed "computer geek" to become involved in the dark world of international crime. :"I was just researching this story, you know, and I stumbled on this piece of information I just couldn't let go... my first instinct when I figured out what I'd uncovered was to write up a post, but I realized if I did that they'd just go underground... I had to get the authorities involved to try and stop this thing." Excerpt from ''People, January 7, 2008 :If the recession is hitting blogging mega-star Caitlyn Evans hard, she doesn't show it. "As long as I've got enough for cigarettes and coffee and my Internet connection I'll probably be fine," she jokes with a laugh. Caitlyn sat down with us for an interview just before Christmas at her family home in Seattle, Washington, flanked by her parents, Marcia and David, who were happy to share stories from Caitlyn's childhood of their witty, hyperactive, brilliant daughter... Excerpt from The Seattle Times, July 10, 2008 :The bodies were identified as those of Marcia and David Evans, missing since July 4. Their daughter, Caitlyn, spoke from a hospital room, where she is still recovering from injuries sustained in the attack that she says led to her parents' murders. :"I think it was targeted. I think it was targeted and I know who ... it was, and if you read this you'd better start running, because I'm going to make ... sure the authorities find you." Excerpt from The Skeleton Key blog, September 27, 2008 :So, I've gotta get the #### out of Seattle. You all know my parents got whacked a couple months ago, and as much as I love my perch here in the Emerald City, there's too many memories, you know? So I took a position down in Colorado with this company, Grey, Incorporated, they're all about green technology, and let me tell you a little bit about green tech... OPEN FILE: CAITLYN AUTOBIOGRAPHY/THERAPY BRAINDUMP THING Don't ever fuck with a Corax, especially not one who could empty your bank account in about five minutes if she really wanted to. Sure, we're not combat-savvy, but we've got connections and information and we don't like it when people screw with us. Not at all. Okay, let me back up a second. I'm Caitlyn Evans. I was born February 12, 1984, to a couple of totally normal parents in Seattle, Washington. Well, okay, maybe not totally normal, Dad was a linguistics professor at the UW and Mom was a cellist with the Seattle Symphony, so I guess that's why it wasn't surprising when their daughter turned out to be an overly talkative genius. Oh, and I was chosen to receive a Corax spirit egg. Funny how that works. So I've got spiritual parents and physical parents both. My physical parents were the best. When my teachers threw up their hands at me and delinated all the ways I was fucking with their carefully laid lesson plans, they didn't put me on Ritalin. Oh, no. They demanded I get proper treatment as a "gifted child" and ultimately wound up pulling me out of school altogether. I homeschooled from the age of 9 to the age of 15, got social interaction through Girl Scouts (which I sucked at so bad), and generally had the best childhood I've ever heard of a shifter-type having. I'm damn lucky for that, I'll tell you. Raven must've smiled on me the day I was born. They were even supportive when I haltingly explained that I had a girlfriend when I was 13. Bethany was the sweetest, prettiest thing, with red curls and youthful curves, popular and funny and she just adored cynical, mousy, skinny me. I still have no fucking clue why. Bethany was my first crush and my first love, and utter proof that I'm bisexual 'cause, as much as I like boys I tend to fall in love with girls. It's just how I am. I've also always had these dreams... ever since I can remember. Maybe it's Raven's way of balancing the scales of all the blessings I got when I was young. The details shift but the gist of it's always the same... there's someone I'm deeply, deeply loyal to, maybe I even love them. Someone important, or maybe just important to me. And I betray them, utterly and completely. My name's going to go down in history reviled for it, among Corax and Garou. The kicker? The betrayal's utterly neccesary, for some reason. To serve the greater good, to keep Gaia running, to help the Corax... for whatever reason, someone's gonna have to take the fall and betray this person, and that someone's gonna be me. I'll walk into it knowingly, too. I'm gonna be the next fucking Judas, and I've known it all my life. Guess it explains my attitude. Anyway, other than the nasty dreams I had a great childhood, considering I was too smart for my own good, nosy and talkative and hyperactive. I was obsessed with computers and information and, of course, the Internet. And languages! I love languages. That was the thing I wanted to lear the most, follow in Dad's footsteps, like. And then, two days before my 15th birthday, the spirit egg broke. Suddenly I was all wings and feathers, and really really confused. Thank Gaia my guardian got there post-haste, 'cause... you don't even want to know the nasties that come running when a spirit egg breaks. He shepherded me through the hatching process (anonymously of course) and when I was ready--the next day--revealed the new world to me. After the thumbnail sketch of Corax life he took off again, of course, pointing me at some of the other local Corax and explaining I'd need to be responsible for my own education. That was fine--I'd been responsible for my own education for years. I was thrilled to have wings and purpose, mind you. Scared, sure, but thrilled. On my birthday--two days after my First Change--I had a fight with Bethany. I was suddenly preoccupied and didn't want to go out to the movie we'd decided to see; I was really rude and nasty about it, too. In a huff, she called up a friend from her school who'd just turned 16 and had a car, and they went to the movie. I figured I'd find a way to explain later and spent the night glued to my computer. She didn't answer her cell after the movie, or the next day, and I was getting frantic when her parents called. Bethany'd been in an accident--a drunk driver had hit the car, Bethany and her friend had both been killed, but somehow the bastard who'd hit them was fine. It was my worst nightmare. I'd driven her off to go out with someone else and now she was dead. I don't get sad much, though. I mean, I do, I did, I grieved. But mostly I got really fucking pissed. The first place I went was the Tulalip reservation, and the Corax I'd been told I'd find there. They explained that we weren't in the business of revenge, but we were in the business of uncovering information, and that would be my best hope for assauging my anger. So, I went digging. I wasn't the best out-and-out hacker back then, but social engineering? That's my forte. I managed to find records indicating that not only had this guy been arrested for drunk driving before, he'd been cleared of charges and--guess what?--he was a City Councilman's son. And said Councilman had a history of getting family and friends off, and an interesting relationship with the D.A.'s office. I dropped an anonymous hint to the Times and sat back. Two months later, the Times ran an expose on the Councilman in question, getting him and the prosecutor he'd been in cahoots with hit with charges of accepting bribes in exchange for gaming the judicial system. It wouldn't bring Bethany back, but it got her murderer (and yeah, driving while drunk is murder, thanks very fucking much) put away for a while, and got the people responsible for his sorry ass even being on the road in trouble, too. It was satisfying, in an odd way. No, I don't drink. Never touched alcohol. I can't stand the thought. I threw myself into learning to be a good Corax, and I decided to become a linguist, the better to dig up information on... well, anyone and anything. I took advantage of the Running Start program, using state money to get myself a two-year degree by the time I was 17. In the meantime, my first year went by smoothly, I learned to fly (oh, glorious flight!!) and I learned a lot about Raven and our duty as Corax from my friends on the rez. My spiritual mother lived there, a corvid by the name of Early-Bird-Gets-The-Worm. (She's always really early to Gathers and stuff like that, see, and... yeah, okay, it's a weak joke, so what? She is good at finding food in a tight spot.) She didn't give her egg to any of the Kinfolk because, she said, she wanted some "new blood." Early was a great source of information, and rather fond of me, really, we've gotten along great. She's very serious in that way Native Corax can be, and she takes the whole "protector" side of Raven really seriously--but, then, so do I. Anyhow, I got my two-year degree and then I popped into the UW for my four-year and, well, the plan was to go get a doctorate in linguistics, but then I started up this little blog I called The Skeleton Key. Unlocking things, revealing hidden secrets, you get it? I just wanted to comment on linguistic stuff, and things I read on non-English websites, because seriously, how many American bloggers are even bilingual? And, more importantly, how many are Corax, with access to our networks and Gifts and such? Between blogrolls and links and I don't even know what all, within a year I had a decent readership. In three years, I was getting offers from advertisers and it had been declared that I'd reached the Big Time--if you wanted to get a good perspective on international news, look no further. My information was fast and accurate, and when I wasn't absolutely certain about something, I said so. If I turned out to be mistaken, the correction was trumpted loudly--I'm not afraid to admit my mistakes, though I'm rarely wrongwhen I'm sure. Graduate school didn't happen. I got my Bachelor's at the age of 20 (and I was Neocornix by then, too, Garou'd call it Fostern) and associated myself with a Garou sept down in Oregon (the closest one in Washington didn't really want my help), and had some interesting times. I started working on my computer skills, hardcore, really learning to dig for information. I started breaking stories on my blog, and passing on some great information to the Garou so they could take care of Wyrmy things I found out about... all from the safety of my little home office. Things can't stay safe forever, though, I guess. The bust of the Lagunov child porn ring was spectacularly public, but the public only saw one side of the equation. I was digging into a story on spammers--I hate spam, it clogs up and slows down the Internet, and information needs to be fast, dammit. I stumbled across this child porn thing and dug further and it all just kind of snowballed. I pointed the FBI at the thing, and they decided to use me and my linguistic knowledge to get deeper into the whole thing. It wasn't until after the bust that I found out about the vampires. I got some big media coverage out of the deal, and a lot more readers, and more advertising money, of course. I started showing up as a commentator on MSNBC, big news outlets were quoting my blog or at least getting leads from me. I'd never hidden who I was (except for the part about being half-bird, of course), and no one knew that I don't actually speak as many languages as I seem to be able to--the Gift "Tongues" is a wonderful thing. And I found out about the vampires involved in the child porn ring--some sort of sick and twisted "art project" or something--and traced the whole deal back to some fucker right in my backyard, near Seattle. Said fucker was going to start up again--and he'd just kidnapped one of our own to use in his kiddie porn. Not the spirit egg, but the kid, a kid that one of Early's friends had put a spirit egg on seven years before. You don't fuck with spirit eggs. I got a Garou pack up from Oregon, I called in every favor I could, and we went in after the vampires. I don't want to brag--no, who am I shitting, I totally want to brag. I kicked some serious ass. I'm not that strong, you know, but I'm fast and I was tougher back then, and I served as an excellent distraction between going Rara Avis (that surprised the vamps!!) and the Rite of the Sun's Bright Ray. Helios above, I love that Rite. I also took the hit from a frenzied vampire while protecting the kid, and I think that's what got me the Glory and Honor Renown--and a promotion to Ales at the next Gather. Helios approved, the kid was safe, the vampires got dead, and all was well. I thought. There was vengeance at hand, you see. I should've found out more about the vampires before I went after them, I guess. This specific group was Sabbat or some shit, Toreador anti-tribe or whatever, I dunno, Wyrmy fucks, and I'd killed someone's blood brother and so they came after me. It was July 4, we were down by the lake watching fireworks, and they attacked. My parents got in the way and I went down--the fuckers had gold--and it was only by luck that Early (who'd become friends with my parents since my spirit egg hatched) got there in time to save my sorry ass. I couldn't manage to shift and heal, so she got me to a hospital, and I had to heal the hard way. My parents' bodies turned up dumped in the woods six days later. We realized that the vampires were a serious problem, so we got the Garou to organize a real war party and go in to clean house. I didn't participate that time--I was still laid up, and this was going to be all-out war, not just a rescue mission. We didn't get them all, there's still vampires of some sort or other in Seattle, but we wiped out the nest down in Tacoma. The rest of them laid low, I guess. It was generally agreed that it'd be best if I got out of town, though. The Garou, sweet, furry ragebuckets that they are, got me into an interview with one of theirs down in Crystal Springs, Colorado. I got the job, ostensibly handling PR for Grey, Incorporated, but really doing corporate espionage as well as information-gathering for the Sept of the Looking Glass. Nicholas is a nice guy, kind of troubled and lonely, shares my desperate need for caffeine, and I like working for him. I do like Ragabashes best of all Garou, usually. I went to a Garou Theurge, in the meantime, and asked about these dreams I'd always had. Twice now, people close to me had died at least in part because of me. Was I cursed? Was this thing I'd dreamed of really going to happen? Evidently it is going to happen--it's part of Gaia's plan, the spirits agree, whatever--and while I'm not sure why it's therefore okay for me to keep gaining Rank, maybe that's because whatever I'm going to do is actually going to be for the good of Gaia? I don't know. It pisses me off--why me, y'know--but I guess I'm so damn loyal to Raven and the ideals of free information and fucking with people 'cause they need to be fucked with I'm a good candidate. Speaking of, I ought to get more information on the damn Mages. Stupid namebreakers woke up the fucking Hope-Drinker and what the fuck were they thinking? The whole damn Sept's dead, I'm lucky I'm still alive, and Nicholas sent me off on this "OH MY GOD GO TELL EVERYONE WE NEED HELP" mission, which, y'know, Corax. Raven. Scout. Not fucking infantry. Whatever. He owes me a carton of cigs and about a hundred lattes when I get back, not to mention the dedicated bandwidth he promised for Skeleton Key, 'cause fuck that thing's getting expensive to maintain, but it's one of my best sources of information. The vacation's given me time to get my head on, though, and I'm looking forward to coming home, settling in, and helping the Sept build up. Glass Walkers aren't half as bad as I'd been told. So, life goes on. I'm done traveling to the nearby Septs (because the backwards puppies don't even have phones half the time) and now I'm on my way home. Ruminating on my life's made me thirsty... out for a mocha I go. Yeah, it's 11pm. Whatever. Won't keep me up. I sleep the sleep of the just. END FILE. Pictures File:Caitlyn2.jpg|Super-Reporter! File:Caitlyn3.jpg|Sun Worship File:Caitlyn4.jpg|Can I Help You? File:Caitlyn5.jpg|Going Retro! Category:Character Archive